The official TrainerRoad thread

markp80

michaelede wrote:

JGSI, I don't kid myself it is any more than a number Doubt I'll ever race (wish I had discovered road riding a lot younger but even then as a large 90+kg rider I wouldn't have stood a chance) but it is nice to see progress (and I am seeing progress on the road as well, chasing climb times that were way out of reach a year ago). I also appreciate that as I have only been riding for 12 months I will make my big gains early on. I test regularly because I kind of have a weight training / gym mentality and I've always been taught to mix things up on a monthly basis to keep making progress and at the moment I can feel things getting easier part way through a plan.
So pleased I found this forum and thread, the bike would probably be gathering dust in the garage now if I hadn't.

Good post, and to a large extent reflects my own motivation/experience/thoughts. Just on exception though - I too doubted I'd ever race, mainly because I thought I'd left it too late to ever be good enough to join a club or get involved competitively. Then, with a bit of encouragement from MrsP, I entered a local club time trial at the end of last summer. You know what? - I really enjoyed it, and I would encourage you to also give something like this some consideration. You don't need group riding skills to try this, and you're effectively competing against yourself. It was my first step into entering a club environment, and you know what? No-one laughed at me, was unfriendly to me, or anything like that at all. On the contrary, everyone was really friendly and encouraging. This has also given me added motivation to keep up with the training, having a new goal to aim for. So, don't rule it out - have a look and see of your local club runs a TT league, and give it a try!

Cheers,
MarkP

michaelede

Thanks Mark, might do that, although the thought is terrifying. Presumably I couldn't do it on a Disc braked Boardman cross bike though?

Johhnybike, tried to match some segments with dates but only started TR in November last year and did a lot of commuting over the summer and then stopped for the winter so not much overlap Maybe this time next year I'll have some good comparative data.

shockedsoshocked

Is there a Bikeradar group for TR?

michaelede

http://www.trainerroad.com/teams/16-bikeradar

Not exactly active though!

TrevorDeRuise

Awesome conversation, guys. The blog post is a really cool "real world" take on TR fitness out on the actual road. Keep me posted if any of you decide to analyze and record similar data like this, I think it could be very beneficial to the future plans and workouts we create.

In regards to giving your first race a try, I did my first TT (a hillclimb actually) on an old mountain bike! Surely I finished poorly but no one cared at all. I was amazed at the encouragement, support, and new friends that I received from the experience and it's what lead me down the racing path I'm on now. I think the word "race" gets a bad rep due to the competitive nature that can come along with it, but at the local level I feel like they're more of a social event than anything.

-Trevor from TrainerRoad

johnnybike

michaelede wrote:

http://www.trainerroad.com/teams/16-bikeradar

Not exactly active though!

Started a thread, let's make it active

John

dw300

So I got a Stages Power Meter to make my training a bit more structured. I'll ride it tonight hopefully, and am thinking of setting up so that I get readings for virtual power and Stages power, just out of curiosity.

Obviously this will be useful to no-one, except maybe confirm if the power curve of the trainer is remotely accurate and if so, roughly how far out it might be.

But it'll be good to finally link up indoor and outdoor training in term of how the efforts compare. And to have a proper fitness and fatigue graph that's complete and not just VP based.

dw300

In case anyone is interested ..

I set the bike up on the trainer, calibrated and then check it was reporting correctly to the Garmin. At the same time i had the speed/cadence sensor reporting to TrainerRoad to get virtual power.

Now I only pedalled for a couple of minutes, wasnt warmed up and was due to go out for a ride so I'm not sure things were 100% right, but I did note the following differences in Pwr/VP ..

At about 80W on the PM, TR was showing 130W. 130W on PM, TR showed 200W. 230W on the PM, TR showed 330W. Based off those, may last TR FTP of 285W, would actually be more like 180W, which I think is definitely too low. Im wondering whether the bike/trainer interface is robbing lots of Watts. Anyway, when I went out for the ride and put the data into Golden Cheetah my CP was given as 213W, although I know I didnt do an all out 20 minute interval during that ride. So I hoping to get to at least 250W, if not closer to the 285W for an outdoor FTP test, in which case TR isnt that far off the mark despite initially appearing so.

Im probably overlooking something very simple in set up. I'll experiment more on the trainer as I get more time.

charlie_potatoes

dw300 wrote:

In case anyone is interested ..

I set the bike up on the trainer, calibrated and then check it was reporting correctly to the Garmin. At the same time i had the speed/cadence sensor reporting to TrainerRoad to get virtual power.

Now I only pedalled for a couple of minutes, wasnt warmed up and was due to go out for a ride so I'm not sure things were 100% right, but I did note the following differences in Pwr/VP ..

At about 80W on the PM, TR was showing 130W. 130W on PM, TR showed 200W. 230W on the PM, TR showed 330W. Based off those, may last TR FTP of 285W, would actually be more like 180W, which I think is definitely too low. Im wondering whether the bike/trainer interface is robbing lots of Watts. Anyway, when I went out for the ride and put the data into Golden Cheetah my CP was given as 213W, although I know I didnt do an all out 20 minute interval during that ride. So I hoping to get to at least 250W, if not closer to the 285W for an outdoor FTP test, in which case TR isnt that far off the mark despite initially appearing so.

Im probably overlooking something very simple in set up. I'll experiment more on the trainer as I get more time.

FWIW I know someone who recently bought Garmin Pedals and his FTP on TR went from 285 to 252. Using KK Road machine.

dw300

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

FWIW I know someone who recently bought Garmin Pedals and his FTP on TR went from 285 to 252. Using KK Road machine.

It seems like a lot of people get a 20-50W reduction, so I was expecting something, just not seeing 100W of a difference at some points.

I'll do something a bit more 'scientific' tonight in terms of noting differences. I haven't got a 20 minute test in me at the moment though between my knees and asthma playing up and not having a good nights sleep this week yet!

charlie_potatoes

dw300 wrote:

It seems like a lot of people get a 20-50W reduction, so I was expecting something, just not seeing 100W of a difference at some points.

Yeah. 180w FTP is clearly wrong when compared to your rides on Strava

cerv50

dw300 wrote:

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

FWIW I know someone who recently bought Garmin Pedals and his FTP on TR went from 285 to 252. Using KK Road machine.

It seems like a lot of people get a 20-50W reduction, so I was expecting something, just not seeing 100W of a difference at some points.

I'll do something a bit more 'scientific' tonight in terms of noting differences. I haven't got a 20 minute test in me at the moment though between my knees and asthma playing up and not having a good nights sleep this week yet!

I too have recently invested in a PM, went for the Vectors as winter and summer bikes have different gearing set ups so couldn't use Stages on both unless I bought 2 units. Not tried them on the turbo bike as yet but will do one day to see how they compare with TR's values.

What I like is being able to see the watts whilst riding and being able to keep them at a steady level throughout a ride so not causing me to blow up with exhaustion. Love it when you get home and see your power spikes during all out efforts or climbing, highest one for me so far was 921 I also like to keep an eye on left/right leg efforts. I injured my left knee 18 months ago and since then have been trying to build its strength back up, my last few rides my stronger right leg has been showing a weakness against the left!

michaelede

Hoping to join in with a power meter at some point. Can't make up my mind whether or not to go for a second hand Quarq off of ebay or switch out the crankset at the front to a SRAM GXP BB based system and get a stages (want to stick with SRAM and so would have to switch to GXP as stages don't do a SRAM BB30 option) both options work out about the same cost.

As an aside I am really struggling with my new FTP value, went up around 20% at the last test and I am really struggling to complete the rides in Intermediate Base 1 (but I am completing them pretty much on target, just it is really f'in hard) part of me says, well you're completing them but surely it shouldn't be such hard work?

http://www.trainerroad.com/career/bigmikeede

Feel free to take a look and give me your thoughts.

Heart rate isn't absurdly high so presumably I just need to suck it up and grow a pair?

dw300

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

Yeah. 180w FTP is clearly wrong when compared to your rides on Strava

You're a gent Chuck!

cerv50 wrote:

I too have recently invested in a PM, went for the Vectors as winter and summer bikes have different gearing set ups so couldn't use Stages on both unless I bought 2 units. Not tried them on the turbo bike as yet but will do one day to see how they compare with TR's values.

What I like is being able to see the watts whilst riding and being able to keep them at a steady level throughout a ride so not causing me to blow up with exhaustion. Love it when you get home and see your power spikes during all out efforts or climbing, highest one for me so far was 921 I also like to keep an eye on left/right leg efforts. I injured my left knee 18 months ago and since then have been trying to build its strength back up, my last few rides my stronger right leg has been showing a weakness against the left!

I ride 2 threaded frames, so 2 identical BBs, and a 5 minute job to prep whichever bike I need the night before. Glas your injury is fixed, now start working on the right again!

Anyways .. did my test ride on the turbo, running power on the head unit and VP on the laptop ..

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/1037204-Power-Meter-Test

http://app.strava.com/activities/164589904

Having compared the numbers for each interval, the difference is pretty constant at 35-40w below Virtual Power. My turbo is 'clamped' by my weight. So technically every rider would need a slightly different power curve. But like i said, differences were constant.

One thing to check would be to do a constant power interval to look at the temperature drift. Although I keep my trainer at room temperature, so i probably always suffered less that people who train in a garage.

charlie_potatoes

Still leaves you with a very nice ftp/kg though dw :shock:

dw300

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

Still leaves you with a very nice ftp/kg though dw :shock:

Being light is about as far as my natural cycling talent goes! Gota try and get over 4w/kg for real now!

shockedsoshocked

Right, had a play around for a couple of weeks now. Got a week in London then start in earnest once i'm back.

Current FTP after nearly 3 years off is 265w. However I'm now 117kg Far from my peak.

Short term aims. Get over 300w for FTP. I don't really know the time frame for progression, but would like to see me pushing towards an FTP of 300w within 6-8 weeks, which I don't think is unreasonable from being inactive for so long!

Ultimate goal is to get my FTP back to 4w/kg +. But that's going to take a lot of riding and a good diet.

michaelede

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

Right, had a play around for a couple of weeks now. Got a week in London then start in earnest once i'm back.

Current FTP after nearly 3 years off is 265w. However I'm now 117kg Far from my peak.

Short term aims. Get over 300w for FTP. I don't really know the time frame for progression, but would like to see me pushing towards an FTP of 300w within 6-8 weeks, which I don't think is unreasonable from being inactive for so long!

Ultimate goal is to get my FTP back to 4w/kg +. But that's going to take a lot of riding and a good diet.

Good luck! are you going to follow a plan or make it up as you go along?

shockedsoshocked

michaelede wrote:

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

Right, had a play around for a couple of weeks now. Got a week in London then start in earnest once i'm back.

Current FTP after nearly 3 years off is 265w. However I'm now 117kg Far from my peak.

Short term aims. Get over 300w for FTP. I don't really know the time frame for progression, but would like to see me pushing towards an FTP of 300w within 6-8 weeks, which I don't think is unreasonable from being inactive for so long!

Ultimate goal is to get my FTP back to 4w/kg +. But that's going to take a lot of riding and a good diet.

Good luck! are you going to follow a plan or make it up as you go along?

Make it up I think. I found a couple of years ago the typical 2x20/3x20 threshold workouts worked really well for me, so going to mix it up with variations those and throw in a harder set of intervals once a week as well. I did look at the plans, some of which are excellent but I've found I can only sit on the turbo for an hour or so without wanting to end it all

michaelede

Don't know if you've tried any of the sufferfest videos? I can tolerate about an hour of watching a yellow line move slowly from left to right on a black back ground but for some bizarre reason love Islagiatt which weighs in at two hours.

Are your threshold workouts like the ones in this plan? http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/plan ... ate-base-i I currently hate this plan with a passion!

shockedsoshocked

michaelede wrote:

Don't know if you've tried any of the sufferfest videos? I can tolerate about an hour of watching a yellow line move slowly from left to right on a black back ground but for some bizarre reason love Islagiatt which weighs in at two hours.

Are your threshold workouts like the ones in this plan? http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/plan ... ate-base-i I currently hate this plan with a passion!

Pretty similar, but a lot of more steady stuff. With just using virtual power I'd prefer to do a set block of power instead of trying to follow really small jumps.

I think if I get a permanent job in the near future I might invest in a Turbo that links to TR and adjusts automatically.

venster

Hi. Just getting set up with a turbo etc and not sure where to start.

As it's summer my priority will be to ride outside but would like to compliment this with TR - any suggestions on which plan to follow, or should I just add a few random workouts here and there. I plan to stick to a more rigid plan on TR once the bad weather and dark nights get here.

Long term plan is hopefully Marmotte or Etape next year

shockedsoshocked

Had a few weeks off and now back in to it. Hoping for a consective 7-8 days on the turbo before my mates stag do, then i've got another 12 days till his wedding, so these are going to be my first two serious blocks.

Did Lamarck today (4x10mins at FTP). FTP is currently 266w but I'm weighing in at 117kg (works out at 2.27w/kg, which is embarrassing) Hopefully shift a significant amount of that over the next month with a steady diet. First goal is 300w FTP.

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/ride ... 71-Lamarck

jgsi

ISLAGIATT

Who else waves to the Caribinieri on 22 and 27 minutes in?

markp80

I see the iOS app is being made available on beta.

I've been thinking about this, and I'm not sure I see much use for this for me personally. My speed/cadence sensor is Ant+, my iPhone isn't. So to make any use of this, I'd need a dongle plugged into my phone/iPad to allow it to receive the Ant+ signal.

Am I missing something?

Cheers,
MarkP

fukawitribe

MarkP80 wrote:

I see the iOS app is being made available on beta.

I've been thinking about this, and I'm not sure I see much use for this for me personally. My speed/cadence sensor is Ant+, my iPhone isn't. So to make any use of this, I'd need a dongle plugged into my phone/iPad to allow it to receive the Ant+ signal.

Am I missing something?

Nope, not missed anything I can see. The alternatives involve either involve changing your sensors (with BLE) or your phone (with ANT+, e.g. some Sonys).

bobgfish

Depends if you use Trainer Road to record on say a Garmin. Drive the device using bluetooth from iOS but record on ANT with Garmin. I always use my Garmin as source of truth which means it can be imported everywhere. (I know I can export and from TR and import elsewhere but can't be bothered)

Dodger747

Urgh, did my first session of the new 'season' earlier [moving to Brussels has disrupted my cycling routine]. Even with lowering my FTP from last year's high, I forgot how hard it is!

dw300

fukawitribe wrote:

MarkP80 wrote:

I see the iOS app is being made available on beta.

I've been thinking about this, and I'm not sure I see much use for this for me personally. My speed/cadence sensor is Ant+, my iPhone isn't. So to make any use of this, I'd need a dongle plugged into my phone/iPad to allow it to receive the Ant+ signal.

Am I missing something?

Nope, not missed anything I can see. The alternatives involve either involve changing your sensors (with BLE) or your phone (with ANT+, e.g. some Sonys, and all Samsung Galaxy and Note after the S4 and Note 2).

So is there an Android App? Am I dragging my laptop out to the garage unnecessarily? *goes to look*

fukawitribe

dw300 wrote:

fukawitribe wrote:

MarkP80 wrote:

I see the iOS app is being made available on beta.

I've been thinking about this, and I'm not sure I see much use for this for me personally. My speed/cadence sensor is Ant+, my iPhone isn't. So to make any use of this, I'd need a dongle plugged into my phone/iPad to allow it to receive the Ant+ signal.

Am I missing something?

Nope, not missed anything I can see. The alternatives involve either involve changing your sensors (with BLE) or your phone (with ANT+, e.g. some Sonys, and all Samsung Galaxy and Note after the S4 and Note 2).

So is there an Android App? Am I dragging my laptop out to the garage unnecessarily? *goes to look*

Ah - pooh. No, you're right and i'm not thinking straight - they're isn't an Android app yet.